Naruto the Shadow Nin
by tyroneatarmy
Summary: slight assasins's creed style Naruto is trained from a young age to be a ninja unlike others. he is to strike from the shadows and not be seen. deception is the ninja's greatest weapon. first story pls r
1. Chapter 1

Tap, tap, tap, the patter of sandaled feet as the run across a wooden floor. After a brief slide the door knob is turned and in walks a blonde haired whisker marked child of about five. Looking around the room with apprehension the young child slowly crept forward into his apartment checking to see if anything is out of place. He saw his lone table and chair sitting in the kitchen along with the piles of instant ramen packets all over the apartment and the window that was open. Wait he didn't leave his window open!

Swoosh, thump.

Pain shot through Naruto's shoulder. Looking at the location of the pain he noticed that it was bleeding and there was a Kunai buried to the hilt in his shoulder. "How does it feel demon brat! Does it hurt?" asked an Anbu masked ninja. "Do you feel the pain that you caused people five years ago?"

"Huh?" Naruto could barely think through the pain.

"I've planned this for almost five years demon. Worked to get into Anbu, went on the most dangerous secret missions to gain the Hokage's trust and finally tonight I've gained the duty to be your lone guardian. Say your prayers demon it's just me and you."

As the masked Anbu slowly walked toward him Naruto looked around frantically left and right try to find a place to run or hide. As the Anbu went to punch him he dropped into a crouch and rolled between his legs. Unfortunately he forgot about the Kunai lodged in his shoulder and as he rolled across his shoulder pain lanced through his shoulder causing him to jerk his body and slide across the floor on his back. Blood was flowing out of his wounded shoulder as he lay there in tears from the pain. Trying to stand back up using his good arm he slid in the pool of blood causing even more pain and discomfort. The masked Anbu chuckled as he watched Naruto flop on the ground helplessly.

"So you're not without tricks are you? Just what I'd expect from a fox."

Throwing another three Kunai, he hit Naruto's other shoulder, and both calves.

As Naruto started to black out from blood loss and pain the Anbu applied a shock tag to his back shocking him awake. Kicking him a few times for good measure he prepared his Katana for the final stroke when a blur shot into the room and knocked him down. Naruto looked up to see a two blurs apparently fighting each other before he passed out from blood loss.

Later.

Naruto lay in the Hokage's office bandaged and asleep on a couch while a very important discussion took place a few meters from his position.

"Damn it sensei if I hadn't shown up when I did that kid wouldn't be here!"

"I know Jiraiya but considering the precautions we've already taken there's nothing that we could have done to prevent what happened. I must honestly say I'm doing my best to keep him safe. We owe that at least to the Fourth for his sacrifice."

The already named Jiraiya didn't sound very pleased. "Don't tell me about my student's sacrifice! Your best isn't good enough, considering that you have an entire Anbu division at your disposal plus the rest of the village; you should have been able to protect him better. Why hasn't he begun ninja training yet? Does the kid even know how to read? If he knew about traps or maybe a simple jutsu he may have been able to defend himself and avoid the worst of his injuries."

"Jiraiya, you know as well as I do that I can't train the boy personally without it looking like favoritism. Not to mention that if our enemies found out I paid too much attention too one lone orphan they would start snooping around. We can't afford for someone like Iwa finding out that Naruto has the nine tails, or worse his heritage."

"Wait sensei, are you telling me that two of the most skilled ninja in the village can't figure out how to train a mere child? Deception is the greatest tool for a ninja. We should be more than able to secretly train this kid with the resources available to us."

Pulling out his pip the Hokage thought about the problem. "You're right, I never thought about it like that. With careful use of sealing, Kage bushin, and some scrolls we could conceivably make Naruto the most powerful ninja of his generation. Jiraiya, I need you to go to his apartment and place a series of seals around it. We'll need summoning, security, and silencing seals to begin with. I want his apartment on a level on par if not better than Anbu headquarters. I'll also need you to acquire the latest information on weapons and techniques found in the Ninja world that we can equip him with. We have to come up with a cover story on that will make his enemies believe that he's subpar until we are ready to show our hand."

Five years later

Naruto leapt across the roof tops and a moderate speed with multiple Anbu on his tail. This was just too easy he thought. First he painted all the buildings downtown orange. Then he lead the chunin that chased him on a chase that ended up with them springing a trap he set for them that involved sticky glue and feathers. Basically they thought they caught him in an alleyway with nowhere to rin until he started doing hand seals. Next thing they knew they were covered in a stickey tar like substance with feathers all over them. Finally the only ninja who stood a chance of catching him were the Anbu. He slowly led them on a seemingly random pattern through the streets and across the roof tops of Konoha. Dashing into one of the training grounds he apparently disappeared.

While the Anbu unit was searching for Naruto throughout the training grounds a small figure was walking through the streets toward a well known ramen stand. The figure was wearing long flowing monk like robes with combat boots and fingerless gloves under the robes he wore his trademark orange jumpsuit but under that he wore custom arm and leg bracers and a protective vest for his chest. Through all of this he had custom seals worked into the material created by Master Jiraiya and the Hokage. The outfit was completed by a hood that he wore over his head that cast a dark shadow over his face so only his lips could be seen. He walked into the ramen stall and sat down next to another ninja who looked like an average Jounin.

"One Miso ramen" the small figure stated when asked for his order.  
"How did it go?" the jounin asked

"Better than expected" he said.

"Infiltration; complete, massive covert destruction; complete, evasion and survival; complete, ambush; complete, escape; complete, covert use of a mud clone jutsu; complete. The fact that I just beat half the ninjas in the village awesome, for everything else there's training!" Naruto laughed under his cowl.

The jounin nodded and walked out of the stand and into a near-by alley way where he disappeared in a puff of smoke. In a council meeting elsewhere in the village the Hokage smiled a little bit more receiving the memories of his shadow clone.


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own Naruto or any other concept in this story. I just use them in a creative way.

Chapter 2

Two years later

Naruto woke up like any other morning, by putting an explosive kunai into the face of his alarm clock. Funny how the alarm clock always pissed him off but the explosion never made him upset. Getting out of bed and doing his morning routine in the bathroom he then put on his under armor vest, and bracers checking their seals to ensure that they functioned well. After applying some chakra to them their weight increased and with a minor grunt he moved on to his bright orange jumpsuit. Sold to him by some idiot villager who thought that he was the living embodiment of the fox sealed within him he used the jumpsuit as a means of training as well as a good story for his cover personality as the village idiot.

Today was the last day in the academy, as well as his last day watching the possible traitor Mizuki. It was also the last day of this stage of his training. Strapping a standard Kunai holster to his leg and a supply pouch to his waste he headed out to complete his mission. Leaping from rooftop to roof top he quickly made his way to the academy. Spotting the most emo person he's ever seen he took a seat next to Sasuke Uchiha the last of the famed Uchiha clan. Knowing that when the major fan girl rivals, Sakura and Ino showed they would demand the seat from him he waited to fulfill yet another task to solidify his cover as the village idiot. Hence he was not surprised when the two girls barged into the room with the subtlety of an elephant in a china shop. Nor was he surprised when he was forcefully removed from the seat he already claimed to make way for Sakura. He played his part well acting hurt by the mean words spouted by the pink haired girl. Honestly did she expect to be able to perform the duties of a ninja with hair capable of standing out in a crowd? He then proceeded to sit next to the ever stoic Shino Aburame. Naruto subtly increased the weights he was wearing while testing for both taijutsu and weapons and well as barely performing the first two jutsu of the exam. He noticed the subtle smile on Mizuki's face and the pleased gleam in his eyes as he watched his mediocre performance.

After most of the rest of the class had passed the final test Naruto walked into the examination room and waited for the final test. Iruka looked up at Naurto with hope in his eyes as he asked him to perform the clone jutsu. Naruto did the necessary hand signs and in a puff of smoke a semi-plausible version of Naruto stood to his left while a pale almost dead looking version stood to his right.

Iruka looked disappointed but stated that Naruto could not pass without performing a clone jutsu. Mizuki made a half hearted attempt to change Iruka's mind but obviously failed. Naruto went outside where he sat on a swing watching as the other children were congratulated by their parents and friends. While staring at the celebrations Mizuki walked up to Naruto and proceeded to tell him about a "secret" way to pass the final exam.

Later that night an orange clad Naruto snuck into the Hokage Tower and stole the Forbidden scroll of sealing. Escaping into the surrounding Konoha forest he showed up at the appointed location and begun to look over the scroll of jutsu while waiting for Mizuki to show up.

"First one kagebushin, hmmm nope, next bushin explosion hm I like, I like."

Hence he proceeded to make ten kagebushin and practice the jutsu. Half an hour later he sensed someone approaching so he stopped practicing and acted like he was tired. Soon Iruka landed in front of him and screamed "Naruto, half the village is looking for you! Do you have any clue how much trouble you're in?" Naruto smiled at him as said "but sensei I did it! I learned a jutsu so now I can pass!" At the same time Naruto was wondering whether Iruka was working with Mizuki or whether he just happened to show up where he was training while he was waiting for Mizuki.

"Who told you that?"

"Mizuki sensei did!"

"What why would Mizuki…" the sound of something flying through the air caught Iruka's attention and he jumped in the way defending Naruto.

Naruto looked up genuinely confused, "wh why?"

"Because I was just like you once, an orphan, no one cared so I pulled pranks to get their attention."

Mizuki began a mad cackle as he listened, "don't make me laugh Iruka, you hated that little demon as much as I do. He killed your parents after all."

"What, what's going on? What are you talking about? Why are you attacking us?

Mizuki laughed again "oh yeah you don't know the secret they've kept from you your whole life do you!"

"No Mizuki, it's forbidden to tell the younger generation!"

"Naruto, thirteen years ago when the fourth defeated the demon fox he didn't kill it. Instead it was reborn in you, in other words you are the demon fox! Ha, ha, ha"

Naruto's eyes got wide for a second before he grabbed the scroll and dashed into the trees. Ten minutes later Iruka called out to Naruto "hey Naruto it's me Iruka, give me the scroll before Mizuki get's here!" Naruto turned around and looked at Mizuki before jump kicking him in the chest making him fly into a tree.

" How did you know I wasn't Iruka?" Iruka said as he turned into Mizuki with a puff of smoke"

"Simple," Naruto said as he disappeared with a puff of smoke" because I'm Iruka."

"Damn it Iruka, why do you defend that demon? With that scroll he'll become powerful and take all the past years of torment out on the village!"

"You're right" Iruka said as he struggled to sit up across from Mizuki with the wounds he had received so far. Meanwhile Naruto hid in bushes a few meters from the two watching the scene play out.

"a demon wood do that, but Naruto is not a demon, he is my precious student and I will defend him with my life."

"Well then, if that's your decision," as Mizuki took a Fuma Shuriken from his back and threw it at Iruka watching as is one time friend had no hope of dodging. Suddenly Naruto appeared in front of the shuriken and deflected it with his arm bracers.

"Don't you dare touch my sensei or I'll kill you!"

Mizuki laughed as he watched Naruto defend Iruka. "Alright demon, if it's a fight you want bring it on."

Naruto did one hand sigh and said "kagebushin no jutsu!"

Ten Naruto's appeared and rushed Mizuki who punched slashed and kicked his way through the group of bushins until he was right in front of Naruto with a Kunai in hand. "Nice one kid, but not good enough for a chunin."

"Naruto smirked and said you're right, Boom."

Naruto exploded sending Mizuki flying back until he hit a tree and was knocked out. Naruto then walked out from behind a tree where Iruka was standing and reached down to help his sensei stand up.

"Here sensei let me help you back to the village."

"Thanks Naruto. That battle was great, I have something for you for saving my life."

"If it's a headband then don't worry about it sensei the Hokage already has one for me."

"What Naruto, what do you mean the Hokage already has one?"

"Well before you showed up taking down Mizuki was my mission anyway. The old man said if I could take him down on my own then he'd give me a headband!"

"Why would he place you in so much danger? What if you had failed?"

At that point three Anbu ninja's appeared from the surrounding area and walked over to pick up Mizuki.

"Sensei there was never any danger of Mizuki escaping with the scroll in the first place. The Anbu had a perimeter set up the whole time, I just served as the bait."

"Well then Naruto how about we celebrate by having some ramen on me?"

"Really Iruka, sensei? Cool, let me report to the Hokage first!"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I don't own Naruto or the characters. I just have a few good ideas.

Two days after the Mizuki incident Naruto was walking down the streets of Konoha wearing his bright kill me orange outfit and sporting his new headband. Walking into the classroom he started to make his way to the back of the room when Kiba shouted, "Hey Naruto, this class is for those that actually passed the exam! I think you should go to a class that still has academy students!" some other students laughed but Naruto just looked at him the turned his eyes up toward his head band before looking at Kiba once again. Smirking once Kiba noticed that he had a headband also he continued on his way up to the back of the class where he sat down alone watching the rest of the room.

A bandaged Iruka walked into the room ten minutes later and began to go into a long speech about how today is the beginning of a very dangerous life for those in the room. Naruto zoned him out for the most part until he began listing the teams.

"Team seven is Sauske Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Kiba. Team eight is Hinata Hyuga, Shino Aburame, and Naruto…"

Looking at who would be on his team waited until they were given a break before the sensei were to arrive before walking over to them to get to know them. Walking over to the table that Hinata and Shino were at he said "hey you guys, so we're a team." Shino merely nodded once while Hinata blushed and poked her fingers together. "Ano, what do you think our purpose will be as a team?" Hinata asked.

"Logic would indicate that Hinata's and my abilities lend more to tracking while you Naruto, are more confusing. Without an accurate understanding of your present abilities we cannot deduce the true nature of our team's purpose."

Both Hinata and Naurto just stared at Shino for a moment since that was more words in a single sitting than the two had heard from the usually stoic Aburame in their years in the academy. Shaking off his stupor Naruto smiled and said "me I'm probably just here for support purposes." Shino only pushed his glasses up at this statement.

Half an hour later the class was full of students waiting for the new sensei to show up. The door open up and in walked a woman with long black hair, striking red eyes, creamy skin and a tight fitting dress that looked like it was made of strips of cloth all put together to barely make her look decent.

"Team eight, my name is Kurenai and I'll be your sensei. Please follow me."

The three new ninja walked out of the classroom following Kurenai through town until they came to a simple tea shop. Walking in, they all came to a table with a purple haired woman wearing a fishnet body suit, and a trench coat who was eating a stick of dango and playing with a kunai with a bottle of sake in front of her.

"Anko this is our team, Team this is your other sensei Anko."

Anko looked them up and down one at a time looking at Naruto twice before grimacing and finishing her dango stick.

"This is not a promising looking team. They definitely don't look like the type that will pass their test tomorrow."

The genin looked at each other before Hinata hesitatingly asked "um, what test?"

"Ah, so one of them speaks, well kid you three have a test tomorrow on training ground three and trust me if your looks are anything to judge by you'll never succeed in passing tomorrow."

"Before we get into what will happen tomorrow let's talk about today. All of you take seats and order something then we'll get to know each other." The three genin sat on one side of the table while Anko and Kurenai sat across from them.

"Alright kiddos introduce your selves." Anko barked.

"Introduce ourselves?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, you know likes, dislikes, hobbies and goals for the future."

Looking around the genin silently decided that Naruto would go first.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I like Ramen and training. I dislike the three minutes that it takes for ramen to cook and people who judge others for things that are out of their control. My hobbies include pulling pranks and trying new versions of weapons to use in my ninja arts. My goal for the future is to become the greatest Hokage ever!"

"My name is Hyuuga Hinata and I like flower pressing and my family. I dislike people who are mean to others. My hobbies include finding new flowers to ad to my collection. My goal for the future is to become strong and repair the rift within my family."

"My name is Shino Aburame and I like bugs and my family jutsu. I dislike illogical people and those who do not have respect for non human life. My hobbies include adding new insects to my family's collection. My goal for the future is to be a good clan head for my clan."

"Ok, well I'm Kurenai and I'll be your official sensei for missions and training. I'm a genjutsu specialist and a Jonin. This is Anko and she will be your secondary sensei …"

"Ano, don't most teams usually have only one sensei?" Hinata asked while twiddling her fingers nervously.

"Good observation, usually most teams only have one jonin sensei, but then again most teams are only going to be trained in one main discipline. You will not be one of those teams. Instead you will be trained in more than one discipline." Kurenai said.

"Besides the obvious team that would pair a Hyuuga and an Aburame, can you guess what other type of team we would put you three on?" Anko asked?

"Well we have a guy who has the ability to control bugs that can gather information and attack over long distances that most enemies won't see and is in a family who is in a family who is known for their amazing battle tactics, a very pretty girl who can see through walls and can kill a man with a simple touch and myself who is known for my ingenious pranks that fool even Anbu level ninja… we're forming an assassination squad also." Naruto said.

"That's right kiddo. Being that that is my specialty I will be teaching you everything I know. Even you blonde, and don't think I don't know about the extra training you've had in the subject." Anko said with a smirk.

Naruto just raised his eyebrows slightly, surprised that the jounin was privy to such a guarded secret. He was also wondering what she was playing at dropping that info in such mixed company.

"As far as I know that was at least an A ranked secret that you just mentioned in here. What are we going to do about these two?" he asked in a cold voice.

"Ha, you think this team isn't cleared for that sort of information. We have to clan heirs to some of the most loyal clans in Konoha! There's a reason they were teamed with you besides their normal skills. You three will be the first genin to go through some highly advanced training that we usually only reserve for our most loyal Anbu classed ninja. Because of that certain secrets will be shared with you that normally wouldn't had you been any other ninja. You'll be privy to S class secrets that will be punishable by death. Because of that you will have to pass a test, a test that will determine whether you stay on this team or whether we scrap the idea all together."

"Wait," Naruto said, "I thought we took our last test to become genin?"

"Yes you did, but that was only a test to see whether you were able to become genin. This test will test whether you will become a team or be placed on a team at all." Kurenai said.

"I suggest you go home and rest now. Pack for a week in the field in constant battle and meet here at six in the morning." Anko said, then disappeared in a puff of smoke.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I don't own Naruto

The next morning at six am found our team of three waiting on their sensei to show up. Naruto stood off to the right of the tea shop door leaning against the frame waiting with his eyes closed wearing a new outfit. Well the outfit was actually not new for Naruto. Instead it was his outfit for his training with the Hokage and Jairaya. It consisted of a white hood that covered almost all of his face so only his nose and his lips were visible when his head was upright. Below that was an off white long sleeve top that tapered in a triangular pattern and a belt full of kunai diagonally across his torso. He had brown thick arm guards on his wrists and a red sash belt at his waist. In the opposite diagonal direction lay a meter long looking blade with a black handle. He wore black ninja pants that went into custom made brown/black combat boots. The outfit was a far cry from his orange and had none of his proclaimed favorite color. On the opposite door frame stood Shino who stood in front of a section of the door frame with his hands in his pockets with the high collar of his trench coat preventing any viewing of his facial expression and his sunglasses covering his eyes. Finally Hinata stood in front of them in a timid pose playing with her fingers and trying to figure out what she could possible say to her crush. This is the scene that Kurenai walked up to when she arrived.

"Ok you guys follow me. We'll be going to Anbu's research and development site for your test."

The group followed her through the trees as she slowly increased speed jumping over barriers, against buildings in zigzag motions around half of Konoha's perimeter and finally along an underground maze until they came to a decrepit looking building where she landed in front of the door lightly on her feet. Her clothes looked untouched and she was barely breathing hard.

Behind her landed the three genin all of which were in much worse shape. Sweat pored off their heads and in the case of Hinata and Shino they looked like they could barely stand and were covered in debris from their trip. Naruto looked like he was recovering from a long run and his outfit looked better than his teammates but not by much.

"Ok! That was a great warm up Kurenai said. Are you guys ready for your test?"

"Huff huff bring it on lady" Naruto said while his teammates while being out of breath looked just as determined."

They entered the building and passed through a rundown living room until they came to a hidden door. Going through the door they took an elevator down to a previously unknown location where an Anbu walked to them and escorted them through the facility. Scientists and men in Lab coats stood around mixing chemicals and writing notes. Some seemed to be trying out elemental attacks on different medals and then noticing their effects on the metals afterward. Walking through quickly the team came to a room marked 1098.

Opening the room and shuffling in quietly they took a little time to adjust to the difference in light between the lighted hall way and the darker room with monitors and wires hooked up to three weird looking chairs. The chairs then led to one device which was sitting next to a blonde man who was sitting on the floor meditating. Out of a shadowed corner walked Anko who said "Welcome, this is where your test will be taking place. The three of you will be sitting in these specially designed chairs and these techs will hook it up to you. Then a special Yamanaka technique will be used to link your minds together as you will work together to achieve the mission placed before you. Should you all pass then we will train you and you will become a team of unimaginable power and finesse. The true shadow in the night type of ninja's that will be able to handle anything, should you fail and if you survive your memories of this day will be wiped and you will be sent back to the academy for further training and placed on separate teams. Finally should any of you die your next of kin will be notified that you died in the line of duty and your name will be placed on the memorial wall. And the rest of your team will be reassigned to other teams where openings are available, any questions?"

Hinata spoke up,

"What is our mission?"

The blonde man on the floor stood up at that moment and walked over to them. He stared at each of them long and hard before he began to speak. "What you are about to endure is a highly experimental program that is used to make our most skilled assassins. You can't send a green assassin out to kill an important figure and at the same time you can't really train them in a class room and teach them techniques that would be dangerous in the wrong hands without truly knowing where their loyalties are. So what we've devised is training the mind here to hold the knowledge needed for an assassin while the subject is able to train later with this knowledge for actual missions and to gain the skills needed. Now if you would please get into the chairs we can begin the process. Are you ready?"

"Will our abilities will not be transferred with us will they?" Shino asked.

"No you will all start out with the same base levels. No differences will occur where it comes to physical strength, speed, or flexibility but you will not have access to your dojutsu or bugs and your exponentially higher chakra capacity will cease also. Eventually we will be able to turn back on your abilities and you will go about the mission as if it was a real world situation, any other questions?"

"Good then get in the chairs so we may begin."

They each got into the chairs where wires were hooked up to them and IV fluids began to flow into their bodies. "Secret Jutsu: Animus"

The world shifted around the three genin as they found themselves in what seemed to be a room with a white floor, it was impossible to tell how large or small it was because all that could be seen in any direction was white. They stood next to each other in all black ninja outfits that covered their bodies as Hinata's eyes took on a slightly purpler tinge while Naruto's whisker marks were faded a little. Shino without his trench coat felt slightly naked not being able to hide his face.

The Yamanaka appeared out of thin air and said "Animus jutsu success. In this Jutsu I have the ability to turn on and off your abilities and make you as strong or as weak as I need to. Your won mind and memories allow me to adjust your perceptions as needed to get the simulations to be precisely right."

"Alright it's time for your equipment for this mission." With a snap of his fingers they were each equipped with two Kunai pouches and a supply pouch. After adding as many Kunai as they would normally have in their pouches and some other supplies the wanted they stood in front of the Yamanaka and he gave them their instructions. "There is a group of Genin that are going to be your targets. Your job will be to kill your targets and survive the training with all of your members of the team together at the end. They have abandoned the village and it is now your job to hunt them and bring them back if possible. Or kill them if not. What they say to you will come from the resources of the Anbu who have followed them and watched their movements. Everything that is seen here should be seen as a real life situation. If you lose the ability to use your arm your mind will register that in the real world and you will not be able to use your arm. In as much death here means death in the real world so failure is not an option. Are you ready?"

"Hai" they said in unison.

"Alright your assignments are as follows. Shino you will be tracking and killing your cousin Shinji while Hinata you will be tracking and taking down your cousin Neiji. Finally Naruto you will be hunting and taking down Kiba Inuzuka. Are you ready?"

After looking around in confusion they nodded.

"Ok, begin!" and the world faded to white.

End of chapter four. I took the concept of an Animus from Assassin's Creed and do not own the rights to the idea as well as the weapons. Please read and review.


	5. Chapter 5

I don't own anything so please don't sue me!

Chapter 5

Naruto gained consciousness in his bed at home. Well it felt like gaining consciousness but the view was very different. There was a display that seemed to be over his eyes that showed bars in the upper left hand corner and some the room had a weird look to it like it was made up of color filled cubes.

Standing up he began to think back to his last memories and remembered that he was in the middle of this Jutsu for his test. A disjointed voice appeared from every direction "I'm going to fine tune your senses while you're in this room so you can work as effectively as if this was your real body."

After a few minutes and performing a few basic movements Naruto was instructed to meet his two teammates outside the Hokage Tower to link up and then proceed to their missions. Roof hopping to the tower to ensure that he was used to moving in this mental representation of his body, he was the first to arrive. Shino and Hinata arrived a short time later with Hinata blinking rapidly and Shino focused on his finger as he made a Kikai bug walk up to the tip then disappear back into his sleeves. They stood staring for a moment before Naruto asked "are you guys real or am I doing this mission mostly solo?"Hinata let out a sigh of relief and Shino gave a silent nod confirming that they were real. Walking into the Hokage Tower together Naruto asked "did he have trouble due to your special abilities?" Hinata just mumbled while Shino said that he was still working on fine tuning his inherent control with these simulated bugs versus his real ones, something about the voices sounding synthetic.

Once they arrived at the Hokage's office they walked in and received a mission scroll. The mission was simple. Some criminals had escaped with classified information and needed to be retrieved or eliminated as soon as possible. Their last known location and most likely path were labeled as well.

Upon leaving the Hokage tower they sprinted out of the village with all of their gear. Running moderately fast they traveled in silence until half way to the last know location of the escaped criminals.

"This can't be all that is involved in our test. I mean run out and kill some random criminals, really? Maybe we should think of a plan so that we can find them then maybe we can recon and see what we're dealing with."

Shino and Hinata nodded. Shino looked at their female teammate and asked "how far can you see with the byakugan?"

"It depends upon the terrain, or how many objects are in the way. The composition of the objects, and how focused I need to see but generally I can see about one kilometer in any given direction although I won't notice everything happening within that distance without extreme focus. M my cousin Neiji can focus better than I can utilize it better. I'm sorry…" Hinata began.

"That should help us scout out ahead of us and we can probably notice them before they notice us. That along with my Kagebushin and your Kikai should allow us to cover anything within about a five mile radius of our location." Naruto said while in a thinking pose.

Shino nodded before getting an assessment of all of their weapons and coming up with a basic plan for their test. The plan was simple yet logical, they would fan out in an extended triangle formation with Kagebushin between them using their respective abilities to try to find then capture their targets. Once found they would use Kagebushin henged as them to lure their enemies into a trap before Hinata and Shino used their respective clan abilities to immobilize the criminals. Naruto would then fall into a support role helping them using his jutsu. They would aim for capturing their enemy alive but not hesitate to kill them if necessary.

After three hours of searching, Hinata detected a small partially hidden camp up ahead of them. They spread Naruto's Kagebushin in a semi-circular formation around the camp while the three ninja took positions in a triangular formation around the camp. The camp members were eating and looking around wearily when Naruto casually walked into their camp wearing his white outfit.

"Good evening, I hope I'm not disturbing you guys. I'm just passing through and wondered if any of you have seen some recently escaped criminals. You wouldn't have seen them would you?"

One of the camp members attacked Naruto from behind with a knife stabbing him in the kidney. Naruto looked back and frowned before saying "that's not very nice." That's when the criminal noticed that there was no blood. Then "Naruto" exploded in a shower of bugs that landed on all of the inhabitants of the camp and started to drain their chakra. Soon two of the criminals fell unconscious while the third looked at the location of Naruto then Shino and Hinata before grinning slightly and dispersing in a puddle of water.

"Mizu bushin?" Naruto exclaimed before he was struck from behind disappearing in a puff of smoke himself. To be replaced by a log. Shino and Hinata landed on branches adjacent to the one Naruto Materialized from.

"Damn one of them is a Ninja. Well we should have known that this test couldn't be that easy."

With a simple command swarms of Kagebushin began to attack the ninja from the surrounding trees while Naruto, Shino and Hinata all watched, trying to find a weakness in the ninja's style.

The ninja plowed through the ranks of Kagebushin with ease, taking them out one, two, and sometimes three at a time. After the last Kagebushin was dispersed the ninja looked up at them as he pulled a headband from his pocket.

"Give up it's useless, I'm an undercover jonin and I know more about you than you know about each other. I can't even believe they put all of you on the same team."

As he was speaking Naruto sped through hand seals forming a jutsu to attack with, "wind style: wind bullet justu" he said.

The other ninja sped through his own hand seals before slamming his hand on the ground. "Earth style: earth wall jutsu he said" at the same time Hinata tried to run in from behind him to hit him with a juken strike. Changing the position of his hands at the last minute as the air wave hit he diverted the air by changing the walls position so that the force from the heavily compacted air blew at Hinata slowing her forward charge long enough for the Ninja to give her a mule kick to the stomach. A Kunai was thrown by Shino but the ninja sped through some quick hand signs and spit out a small geyser of water diverting the Kunai and revealing it to be a henged group of Kikai bugs. Within minutes the three genin were standing across from foreign ninja panting. Shino was drenched due to barely avoiding a water technique; Hinata was panting and favoring her left hand after a painful juken strike to a rock wall. Naruto was catching his own breath as he was half way through his chakra due to using multiple high level techniques one after another. The foreign ninja laughed "they were pretty smart putting you three together as a team. You each are good ninja for your age but you don't know enough about each other to work together as a team. Too bad they never thought about what would happen if you did know too much about each other huh?"

"What are you getting at you bastard?" Naruto shouted.

"What 'fox boy' you think I've never heard the stories about you and what you are? What about you little Hyuuga who's also known as the failure of the clan, what if you teammates knew you were stalking them? And we cannot forget about 'Bug boy' over here who I hear leaves his bugs on his allies as much as he does on his enemies! Do you mind losing your chakra to his bugs also?"

The three genin looked at each other anxiously for a few seconds but then a look of determination crossed Naruto's face. "I don't care of Hinata stalks us, it's probably really great training and that makes her not a failure! And Shino's bugs can have a portion of my chakra if needed I've got more than enough to spare. So take your ideas and shove them 'cause we're gonna kick your ass, right guys?"

"Right" they said in unison. Then Naruto made some Kagebushin and sent them to attack while telling the others his plan.

"Ok guys I'm going in close I need you to back me up the best you can."

They nodded and Naruto began to run at the enemy ninja. Shino threw more Kunai that passed Naruto and headed straight for the enemy. The Ninja jumped to avoid the Kunai and Naruto jumped to engage him in Taijutsu. Naruto punched at his face only for him to block with a forearm. Naruto used the momentum of the punch to spin around for a kick which was again blocked. The two combatants landed and the ninja did a reverse round house kick which Naruto jumped over catching the foot and launching himself at the ninja's face stunning him. Hinata then appeared behind him and using precision juken strikes to shut the chakra points in his legs and arms. From there it was easy for Shino to use his bugs to drain the chakra from his body knocking him out. At that point they picked up the unconscious body and the others and carried them back to Konoha. As they entered the gates the world around them faded to white and they began to wake up in the dark ANBU room they were originally in.

"Good job you guys," Kurenai said, "we saw all of the action on a specially made screen in here. You guys did exceptionally well in there and overcame adversity to work as a team. There were revelations in there that I think you will need to work through together as a team and I feel that eventually you will become the best team ever. We'll meet at training ground 23 tomorrow for practice and missions at 0800, so do not be late." With that she led them out of the ANBU area through another exit and the group dispersed with a lot on their minds.

OK this chapter is done please read and review.


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